Samuel Eto’o feels that Fifa’s proposal to have the Africa Cup of Nations held every four years would not be in the best interest of the continent.
Last week, Fifa president Gianni Infantino suggested that Afcon should be held every four years instead of two.
But Eto’o, who has been working in an ambassadorial role with Caf president Ahmad Ahmad as well as Fifa boss Infantino, feels that a four-year Afcon is designed to have Africa’s best players available for big clubs at the expense of the continent.
“Is it in the interest of Africans to organise a Afcon every four years? I think it’s more like the Europeans,” Eto’o told Radio France International.
“They want to have Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at their disposal.”
Eto’o, however, feels that African football has to catch up with European standards.
This comes after Fifa appointed their secretary-general Fatma Samoura as Caf general delegate for six months, in which Eto’o was involved as an advisor to the Caf president during that period.
“We have to bring our football up to that of Europeans,” Eto’o added.
“We asked Caf for help in going faster in the restructuring. It takes a policy on the African continent to develop the champions. This is what will keep national teams from blackmailing.”
The role Eto’o played for Caf comes on the backdrop of his curriculum vitae as 2000 and 2002 Afcon winner with Cameroon, as well as being a four-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, Barcelona (two) and Inter Milan.